![Spanish Representatives Oppose Morocco’s Joint Bid with Spain and Portugal Spain’ Prime Minister proposed a trio bid with Morocco and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup; but the idea does not appear to be popular with Spanish politicians. The representatives of two Spanish political parties, the People’s Party and the Citizens-Party, have said they do not want Spain to submit a joint candidacy with Portugal and Morocco for the 2030 World Cup. In a meeting organized by the National Federation of Sports Facilities Entrepreneurs (FNEID) in Madrid, the People’s party representative, Vicente Azpitarte dismissively spoke about Spain joining a trio with Morocco and Portugal to organize the World Cup. Azpitarte specifically wondered whether Spain would get any advantages from teaming up with the two countries, t Spanish news outlet Iusport reported on Wednesday. The Citizens-Party representative, Roberto Nunez, agreed with Azpitarte. “We do not intend to organize a World Cup with other countries. Spain has more than enough capacity [to organize the World Cup], it is a country that has already organized a World Cup, and we do not understand that proposal,” Nunez said. The adviser of United Podemos, Oscar Penas, stated that he does not clearly see why “the priority is to organize a World Cup or an Olympiad at this time.” Morocco and Spain cooperate on a number of issues, ranging from security and migration to trade and education. On November 18, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, arrived in Morocco for a first visit since his election to premiership. During his visit, Sanchez proposed to both Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani and King Mohammed VI a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup. “We are launching a joint message, which is that this will be a bid between two continents. The King of Morocco is receptive and we’re going to work on it with Portugal. We are very excited about it,” Sanchez said.](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ABL-Launches-in-Casablanca-Becoming-Africa’s-First-Aircraft-Leaser-180x135.jpeg "ABL Launches in Casablanca, Becoming Africa’s First Aircraft Leaser")
Rabat - President of the parliamentary group of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) Abdellah Bouanou has urged the government to lift subsidies on butane gas.
Rabat – President of the parliamentary group of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) Abdellah Bouanou has urged the government to lift subsidies on butane gas.
In 2016, the previous government, led by former Head of Government Abdelilah Benkirane, introduced a reform of the compensation fund that provides subsidies to remove subsidies on butane gas and food products, such as flour.
On May 29, Bouanou criticized the delay of the reform. He also criticized the Minister of Government and General Affairs Lahcen Daoudi.
During the parliamentary meeting held in Rabat on May 29, Bouanou said that Daoudi told the group that “the clean-up of butane gas subsidies will not come into effect until 2022. The measures have been taken since the previous government so why this delay[?]”
He added that some “threaten us and tell us to be careful not to touch the gas, but we must continue the reforms.”
The government has announced its determination to phase out subsidies on several products, including sugar, butane gas, and flour in January 2018.
On January 23, Daoudi said that “many of those who are currently receiving support from the compensation fund do not want subsidies to be abolished as some of them consume 100 bottles of gas per day for water extraction.”
Daoudi said there should be no increase in the prices of butane gas to respect the purchasing power of “poor and vulnerable categories.”
An estimated MAD 12 billion was spent on the compensation fund in 2017, while nearly MAD 200 billion was spent between 2011 and 2015.
Bouanou’s comes amid a major boycott targeting three companies: Centrale Danone, Afriquia gas, and Sidi Ali.
Bouanou was among the officials who supported the ongoing boycott, unveiling the revenues of fuel companies.
In a parliamentary meeting earlier in May, Bouanou said that removing subsidies could save the government as much as “MAD 7 billion in one year of additional profits” as the Moroccan market annually consumes 6.5 million tons of fuel. Bouanou also claimed that the profit margin for some fuel companies has tripled since the liberalization of fuel prices.
